The Kilingi-Nõmme home of Marika Kaldma – among the oldest houses in town – was taken by bank to cover her daughter’s loans. However, young men purchasing it at auction for €3,600, desire to give it back to the granny.
Benefactors bless granny with home lost to cover loans
«I was just dumbfounded by news like that!» Ms Kaldma said, still shaken by the twist of destiny. «If that be true, what would I ever tell these people… I’d give them a big hug, that’s what I’d do.»
With her son and the son of her daughter, Ms Kaldma was on her way to lose her home, having agreed to the establishment of mortgage for her daughter’s loan. As the daughter proved unable to pay, on April 3rd Mother’s home went for sale on auction.
The men purchasing the auctioned house and promising to return it to the granny wish to avoid publicity and will not comment.
Remarkably, they were not the only ones touched by Ms Kaldma’s misery. Prior to auction, a charitable action was launched for her support, aiming at collecting €2,200 minimum – the starting price at auction. In this, they succeeded. However, at auction, the price rose considerably in active bidding, the house finally sold for €3,600.
According to Marika Kaldma, she wishes to heartily thank the 33 persons who made donations to her account, for the auction. At the start, she never believed it would amount to anything, and initially the money was slow in coming indeed. But the action went into higher gear on the day before the auction, the two thousand euros coming together. According to Ms Kaldma, the amounts donated came between ten to a hundred euros, mostly €10-20 at a time. As the men who purchased the house do not want to take the money collected for Ms Kaldma, she will begin sending it back to donators.
Krista Nõmm, the initiator of support action to save Ms Kaldma’s home, said the men purchasing the house belong to a charitable non-profit society. «A good deed like that is praiseworthy indeed and I’m so thankful they decided to help Marika out that way,» she said. «My deepest thanks to all donators, as well. It’s no small matter, a community reaching out like that, with kindness and compassion.»
The grateful granny now, finally, dares to replant her tomatoes into a bigger box. «I ought to have replanted them a while ago, actually. But I just couldn’t bring myself to, not knowing if I’d have the land for them afterwards,» Ms Kaldma said, her voice alive with ease and relief.